Page 71 of The Devils Melody
Sweeping the entire second level, I make sure to check every corner and deem it safe for now. Chen definitely put up a fight, his hand prints littering the walls like some depressing kind of graffiti. Him being taken is a good sign, though. If they were just going to kill him, they would have done exactly that, leaving his body behind to send us a message. There’s still hope that he’s alive, if only to lure Wren, or my brother and I, to another location.
Pulling out my phone, I finally call Jimmy to bring in his crew.
“Talk to me,” Jimmy answers nonchalantly.
“Where the fuck have you been?!” I bellow through the phone, letting all the anger I’ve been trying to hold back spill from my mouth. “Shits falling apart over here andyou, the goddamnglue,are fucking nowhere to be found!”
“W-What the fuck are you talking about? I’ve been doing the research you told me to do on Richard this whole damn time!”
“Yeah, and while you were doing that, you were also supposed to keep your eyes on Wren, you piece of shit!” Theline goes quiet for just a moment, nothing but my ragged breathing fills the silence.
“I did have eyes on her, you entitled fuck. She’s been at work all night.”
“Oh so she didn't have to be coaxed out of a fucking closet after walking in on her apartment being torn to pieces? I guess the blood just magically appeared on the walls too?”
That shuts him up. A heavy silence stretches across the line before Jimmy mutters a single, clipped word.
“Fuck.”
“Yeah, fuck,” I snarl. “You better call your guys and have them get here now. If you screw up like this again, Jimmy, you won’t live long enough to regret it.”
The line goes dead and I shove my phone back into my pocket, taking one last sweeping look around Wren’s apartment. Rage fills my vision knowing someone was in her space. Someone made her so fucking scared, she looked like a abused puppy. When I find the motherfucker that did this, Jimmy's crew will have a long night of cleaning on their hands.
By the time I stalk down the stairs, Kage has already taken Wren to the SUV. I slide into the driver's seat and buckle up, taking a quick glance at Wren in the rear view mirror.
“They’re on the way,” I mutter, locking eyes with Kage in the mirror. He knows what I’m saying.
Wren lifts her head, her eyes red and glassy from fresh tears. “The…police?” she whispers.
I glance at her in the rearview and force a nod. “Yeah. They’ll take care of everything.”
It’s a lie, and it tastes bitter on my tongue, but she doesn’t need the truth. She exhales shakily, sitting backwith her knees to her chest. Kage wraps an arm around her, pressing a kiss to her hairline, letting her know that she’s safe now.
The ride home is quiet,only the occasional sniffle from Wren in the backseat and the soft murmur of Kage pressing kisses to the top of her head to break the silence. I grip the steering wheel a little tighter than necessary. I’d give anything to be in Kage’s position right now. To be the one that’s holding her, comforting her, showing her that no one could hurt her as long as I’m around.
I look back at them in the rear view mirror. The smallest movements she makes, the way her fingers fidget against her knees when she thinks no one is watching. It all hits me harder than expected. She reaches places inside of me I didn’t even know existed, and I can’t stop it. God, I’m so fucked for her and I don’t even know how that’s possible.
As we pull up to our place, I feel the tension in my chest ease slightly knowing she’ll be safe here. Wren drops her knees, leaning towards the glass with wide eyes as she takes in the unfamiliar house. The large yard that’s almost too perfect, the rod iron fence that wraps around the entirety of the property. Our place is big, completely different from what she’s used to. Every glance she casts twists something warm and unknown inside me.
I step inside first, holding the door for her. She hesitates for a beat, staring up at the outside of the house like she’s too scared to go inside. Kage walks up behind her, holding his hand at the small of her back, urging her to go inside.
“C’mon baby, I’ll show you around.”
They walk past me as Kage eyes me like he’s trying to tell me not to fuck anything up. I can’t even be mad at him for acting the way he is towards me. If the situation was reversed, I would have slit his throat for yelling at her the way I did. But a part of me hopes he knows that I only reacted the way I did out of fear.
While Kage shows Wren around the house, I take a quick shower before setting up the guest bedroom for her. I pull the sheets off the king size bed, replacing them with fresh ones and switching out the pillows. She deserves to be comfortable after all the bullshit she went through today. First Dick, then her apartment. Seeing Chen's blood.
Fuck. And I just yelled at her about it. I’m such a fucking asshole.
“And this is your room.” Kage walks Wren inside the room and she stops dead in her tracks as soon as she sees me.
“I’m gonna shower and then I’ll be right back, okay?” Kage cups Wren's face and I watch as she leans into it. She smiles up at him longingly, and as if I’m not even in the fucking room, he leans down and kisses her sweetly. Just a simple brush of their lips, but I can’t help the way I watch them, once again wishing I was in his position.
Breaking the kiss, Kage turns to glare at me before walking out and leaving Wren and I alone in the room. I don’t know what to do. She probably doesn’t want me in here invading her personal space and I can’t say I blame her. Mustering up a smile, I nod once, tense and awkward, wordlessly telling her I’ll get out of her way as I start to move past her, careful not to brush against her as I go.
But then her hand shoots out, wrapping around my wrist, causing me to freeze mid step and my heart to start beating rapidly in my chest. I glance down at her fingersclutching my skin and release a soft breath. Slowly, I turn to face her.
“Don’t…” her voice trembles, barely more than a whisper. “Don’t go.”
